


Adoption

by kyanitedragon



Series: TG Gen Fics [2]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyanitedragon/pseuds/kyanitedragon
Summary: When Hide rescues a ghoul child, he has to figure out which of the ghouls he knows he should turn to for help
Relationships: Momochi Ikuma & Nagachika Hideyoshi
Series: TG Gen Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063508
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Adoption

**Author's Note:**

> This ends a bit abruptly, but it's been sitting unaltered in my wips for so long I figured I should finally post it

Hide sighed as he leaned his back against the alley wall. He cracked his can of coffee open and took a sip.

He had been out searching for any clues to lead him to Kaneki, but he was once again unsuccessful. He decided to take a break, sitting just at the edge of an alley. Here, he was just enough out of the way to not be in anyone’s way of walking, but still visible enough where he wouldn’t be in any danger if there was anyone lurking in the alley.

After a little while, he heard the pitter-patter of someone running, but the footsteps seemed too soft to be an adult. It sounded like a child. Hide stood up and looked further down the alley.

And he made eye contact with a child running. A child with red eyes.

A ghoul child.

The child skidded to a stop once he saw Hide, and his eyes widened in fear. He looked behind him, then back at Hide, and then flickered his gaze between the street and Hide. He looked like a cornered animal, trying to find out what his best route of escape was.

It wasn’t hard to figure out that he was being chased. And Hide would bet money on it being a ghoul investigator.

“Hey, don’t be afraid!” Hide called out gently. “It’s okay, I’ll hide you. Come here.”

The boy’s lip quivered, and he again checked behind him.

“I promise, I’ll protect you.”

The boy let out a frightened whine, and he ran and clung to Hide. Hide quickly pulled him aside, pushing him behind a dumpster to hide him from view and gesturing for him to keep quiet. Then Hide moved back to where he was sitting, and acted natural.

A few seconds passed before investigators ran over. They stopped by him, bending over and heaving breaths.

“Did you see a small child run through here?” One of them asked.

“Yeah. He headed that way. He looked pretty scared.” Hide lied, pointing down the street.

“Thanks!” One of the investigators said before running again.

The other groaned, not too happy about having to run again.

“May I ask why you’re chasing a frightened kid?” Hide asked, playing dumb.

“That child,” The investigator spat, “is a ghoul.”

“A ghoul child?” Hide asked. “That still sounds a little... inhumane...”

The investigator rolled his eyes. “That child is still a man-eater.”

And with that, the investigator began to run again, catching up with his partner.

Hide sighed. He wished people wouldn’t see ghouls and humans as so black and white.

“They’re gone. You can come out now.” Hide said, standing up and walking back to where he hid the ghoul child.

“Th-thank you, sir!” The young boy said politely as he crawled out and stood up.

Hide smiled at his manners.

The boy glanced down the alley he had come from, and just stood there. His eyes were still black and red, and his jacket had quite a bit of bloodstains on it. It wouldn’t be safe for him to wander around in public.

The boy wrapped his arms to hug himself, and began to softly cry.

“Are you okay?” Hide asked, which was probably a dumb thing to ask. The boy was crying, obviously terrified from being chased by investigators, and the blood on him either meant he had gotten hurt, or he was with someone who had gotten hurt or worse.

“I-I don’t know...” The boy whispered.

Hide came closer and bent down to be at his level. The boy took a few steps back away from him.

“It’s okay.” Hide whispered. “I want to help you.”

The boy nodded timidly.

“Is there anyone you can go to?” Hide asked. “I can make sure you get there safely.”

The boy shook his head. “Not— not anymore.”

“I live in an apartment by myself. You can stay with me for a little, if you want.”

The boy nodded, and closed the distance between them and hugged him again.

“First we need to get this jacket off you.” Hide said as he gently eased it off. He turned it inside out and folded it so the bloodstains couldn’t be visible.

The boy rubbed the tears from his eyes.

“Can you make your eyes, um, you know?” Hide asked.

The boy shook his head and averted his gaze. “No. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’ll just need to figure something else out.” Hide told him with a gentle smile. “Okay, how about this? I can carry you on my back. You just keep your head down so no one can see. Is that okay with you?”

The boy nodded, and Hide turned around. The boy climbed on his back, and burrowed his face into his back.

\---

Once home, Hide immediately closed and locked his door. He let the ghoul child down, and the young boy remained at his side.

“My name is Hideyoshi Nagachika, but you can just call me Hide.” Hide introduced. “What’s your name?”

“Yuuto.”

“Okay, Yuuto-kun. Um, my home is your home for now, so help yourself and don’t be shy!” Hide opened his arms for dramatic effect. Yuuto nodded and slowly began to explore the place.

Hide sat down and pulled out his phone.

**To: Kaneki**

**Kaneki, something happened and I really need your help**

He hit send.

_ Please respond to me for once. _

Hide gave it an hour, and after no response from Kaneki, Hide decided to continue his message.

**I don’t want to type out what happened just in case, Kaneki. But please trust me when I say I wouldn’t be asking like this if it weren’t important**

Thirty minutes later he added desperately: 

**Please.**

\---

“Yuuto-kun, you don’t happen to know where to get food for yourself, do you?” Hide asked. He honestly had no idea what answer to expect, and he wasn’t even sure what answer he was hoping to get.

Yuuto shook his head. “My mama always got food for me.”

“And you don’t know how she got it?” Hide asked, although he didn’t know if he wanted to hear the answer from an innocent young boy’s mouth. 

_ But this is how ghouls live their lives. _

Yuuto shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

\---

Hide wasn’t sure how long ghouls could go without eating, but he knew it wasn’t forever. He was on a time limit, and he was running out of time by the day.

_ Okay Kaneki, I give up. I guess I need to come out and say it. _

He sent another text message.

**I know, okay?**

**I know you’re a ghoul. And I’m okay with it! You’re still you. I still love you, man!**

**I wanted to give you your distance and I wanted to let you tell me when you were ready, but something’s come up.**

**I just saved a young boy, and he’s a ghoul. I want to help him, but I have no idea what to do. I need help.**

**Please Kaneki. Even if you don’t come back and help me in-person, please just...**

**Tell me what to do?**

Hide waited for a response, but it never came. He couldn’t tell if Kaneki had even read them. For all he knew, Kaneki had gotten rid of his phone months ago and he would never see any of these messages.

He couldn’t keep waiting around for Kaneki to answer him. He needed to find someone to help.

With a heavy sigh, Hide went through his mental list of his options and tried to think of all the ghouls he knew.

Nishiki was the first ghoul to come to mind. After all, how could you forget your senpai that tried to murder you? But there was absolutely no way Hide would ask him for help. Kaneki might seem to be friends with him now, but Nishiki was definitely a last-case option.

Next to come to mind was Touka. Hide knew Kaneki was close to the waitress, but she always seemed very guarded around him. She seemed to care —she saved Hide from Kaneki once, after all. And she was tough — she had taken down Kaneki pretty easily. But something told Hide to be careful of her, and because of that, he didn’t want to risk telling her anything without either Kaneki at his side or without letting her slowly gain his trust. And he didn’t have enough time for the second option.

Hide also knew that Anteiku was a sort of safe haven for ghouls, but Kaneki always seemed to worry about him getting too close. Hide had a feeling just waltzing in and asking the first waiter he saw for help would be a bad idea. He didn’t know how they all felt about humans. He wasn’t even positive that all of the workers were ghouls.

The manager of Anteiku specifically seemed to be friendly, but Hide wasn’t sure if he would be able to get close enough to the man without being suspicious and attracting attention from the workers.

And there was also Ikuma, Hide remembered. The street singer ghoul. Hide liked to think that he and Ikuma had become friends, but he wasn’t exactly sure what Ikuma’s thoughts on him were. Ikuma seemed wise and the two of them had long conversations together. Hide was certainly closest to Ikuma out of all the ghouls he knew, aside from of course Kaneki.

Hide thought about his options for the rest of the night, considering the pros and cons of each ghoul.

_ Alright. Ikuma it is then. _

\---

Hide found Ikuma where he always was, on the street with his guitar. Hide brought a can of black coffee for Ikuma, just like he always did.

“Hello, Hide!” Ikuma greeted.

“Hey, Ikuma. Mind if I sit for a little?”

“Of course not; sit down!”

Hide sat down and glanced at his phone. Still no answers from Kaneki. Hide sighed through his nose. He was going to do it, then.

“Ikuma, I have a problem that I wanted some advice on.” Hide began.

“Do I really give that good of advice?” Ikuma asked. “You come to me for a lot of problems.”

“Does that bother you?”

“Nah, I don’t mind. I just didn’t think I was that good at giving advice. Anyway, go ahead and shoot, and I’ll do my best.”

“Okay.” Hide said, and he took a quick look to make sure there were no people within earshot around. “So, I’m helping to take care of this kid, but here’s my problem: he’s a ghoul.”

Ikuma’s eyes widened, and he froze. Then a moment later he awkwardly straightened up his posture. Hide could see that he was growing nervous. 

“A ghoul, huh?” Ikuma scoffed awkwardly. “That’s, uh...” He trailed off. “Why exactly are you telling me this?”

“Like I said, I need help.” Hide whispered, his tone turning into a beg.

“But... why me?” Ikuma asked, but the fear in his voice showed that he already knew why.

“I... I know you’re a ghoul, Ikuma.”

Ikuma froze. He opened and closed his mouth, searching for an explanation, some sort of lie to get Hide off his trail, but ended up with nothing.

“I’m not a danger to you, I promise. I just want to help the kid, but I can’t do it alone. Please help me help him.”

Ikuma closed his eyes, thinking it over. Finally he opened his eyes and said. “Show me the kid.”

Hide nodded and jumped to his feet, and gestured for Ikuma to follow him.

\---

Hide led Ikuma to his apartment without a worry or a second thought. 

“The kid’s inside. I’ve been letting him stay with me since he doesn’t have anywhere else.” Hide explained as he took out his key and opened the door. He walked inside, and then noticed Ikuma wasn’t following.

Ikuma was still outside in the hallway, just staring into his apartment. 

“Uh, you can come in.” Hide said awkwardly.  _ What is he, a vampire? _

Ikuma seemed nervous, and then Hide realized why. Ikuma didn’t know what to expect. Hide could have set a trap in his apartment, or called the CCG and was currently stalling until they got here.

“Like I said, I just want help. But you can stay there if you want, I understand.” Hide said. He turned back around and called out, “Yuuto-kun, can you come over here?”

Hide’s bedroom door opened, and the young ghoul boy walked over.

“Yeah, Hide-san?”

Upon seeing the child, Ikuma came inside and closed the apartment door. Yuuto quickly hid behind Hide, latching onto his clothes.

Ikuma bent down to be at the child’s level.

“It’s okay, I’m a ghoul too.” Ikuma said softly. “I’m a friend of Hide’s, and my name is Ikuma. What’s your name?”

Hide smiled at the mention of “friend.”

“Yuuto...” Yuuto answered. “W-what type of kagune do you have, Ikuma-san?”

Ikuma glanced at Hide for a moment, looking a little nervous, and then looked back at Yuuto and answered, “I’m a koukaku. What type are you?”

Yuuto smiled as he stepped forward. “I haven’t been able to use my kagune yet, but dad was an ukaku and mom was a bikaku so I’m gonna be either of those!”

“Ah, cool. I hope you can use it soon.” Ikuma said with a smile. 

Hide slowly bent down and sat down at their side.

Ikuma and him made eye contact, and then Ikuma said, “Yuuto-kun, why don’t you go back to what you were doing while Hide and I talk?”

“Okay. It was nice meeting you, Ikuma-san!” Yuuto jumped to his feet and ran back into the bedroom.

Hide looked at Ikuma, waiting for him to say something.

“He’s a nice kid.”

Hide nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

“How did you know?” Ikuma asked. “About me, that is?”

“That’s... kind of a long story.” Hide began. “See, I found out about Kaneki first. He used to be human and then he got turned into a ghoul. And through him I found out about other ghouls by either overhearing stuff or just putting the pieces together after I had more information on ghouls.”

“So which was I?”

“I honestly don’t really know how I found out about you. I guess I never really knew for sure. But I knew you liked black coffee, and you and Kaneki seemed to know each other from somewhere, and over time I realized you never ate any of the candy or drank any of the other drinks anyone left you, just the coffee.”

“Am I that obvious?” Ikuma asked, and it was hard to tell if it was upsetting Ikuma or if he found it a little funny.

“Well, I’m also one of the only people who sits with you for hours on end.” Hide shrugged. “And anyway, I tend to notice a lot of things about people that others don’t.” 

Ikuma pressed his lips together as he considered that.

“You’re... taking this strangely well.” Hide said. “Well, I guess you’re the first ghoul I’ve talked to about this so I don’t know if it's strange per se, but still, it’s... a lot easier than I was expecting...?”

“Well, I guess I have a lot more trust in humans than other ghouls would, because I was raised by a human.”

Hide blinked. “Wait, what? Really?”

Ikuma nodded. “My mom is human and she took me in as a baby. My birth mom had been attacked and was dying when my mom found her and saved me. I’m guessing it's a similar situation with you and Yuuto?”

“I found him running from investigators. I didn’t ask him any questions because I didn’t want to bring up anything unpleasant, but I’m pretty sure his mom was taking care of him and was killed by them.”

Ikuma nodded sadly. “Yeah, that’s what happens to a lot of ghouls.”

Hide blinked.  _ That happens a lot?  _ He already felt bad for ghouls, and now knowing that, he wanted to work harder and do more.

“I’m surprised you took him in.” Ikuma continued. “That’s pretty risky, isn’t it? Even for a human?”

“I couldn’t just leave him there.” Hide said honestly.

Ikuma stood back up. “I’ll help you out.”

“Really?!” Hide jumped back up to his feet. “Thank you!”

“And if you have any questions, about ghouls, you can ask me.” Ikuma added.

“Cool. Um, what was that ghoul thing you and Yuuta were talking about earlier?”

Ikuma took a moment to remember. “Oh, I said I was a koukaku type.”

“And that means...?” Hide asked. “What’s a kagune? Oh, is it those tentacle things?”

“Yes. No. Well...” Ikuma chuckled awkwardly. “They can be. Rinkaku type kagune usually take the form of tentacles. But I’m a koukaku, so my kagune look different.”

“I guess Kaneki’s a rinkaku then.” Hide said. “How many are there total?”

“Four. The other two are ukaku and bikaku. It's also possible to be a chimera and have multiple types, but it's pretty rare.”

Hide hummed. “Neat. Hey, uh. Would you be offended if I asked to see it?”

“Not offended, but... surprised.” Ikuma gave him a cautious look. “ _ Are _ you asking to see it?”

Hide nodded. “If that’s okay.”

Ikuma rubbed his arms nervously. “I-I don’t know. I rarely use it.”

“Alright. Nevermind.” Hide said gently. 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Ikuma whispered. “I want to, and I think I do. But it’s— it’s still hard, to be comfortable enough to...”

“I understand. I can respect that. I’m curious, but it's not important.”

“Okay. Thanks.” 

Hide let out a big sigh. “Man, this is great to finally talk about!”

Ikuma laughed. “I agree! I don’t have many ghoul friends to talk about it with either!”

“Really?” Hide asked. “It seemed like there are a lot of friendly ghouls around here.”

Ikuma shrugged. “It’s better than other wards, but a lot of ghouls aren’t really people I get along with. I guess I’m... too human for them?”

“You don’t know anything about Kaneki, do you?” Hide asked. He figured now that the cat was out of the bag, he might be able to get a little more information.

Ikuma shook his head. “I honestly don’t, I’m sorry.”

“No rumors? No guesses?” Hide asked. He would take anything.

“Like I said, I don’t really talk to other ghouls much.”

Hide sighed. “Thanks anyway.”

“I’ll let you know if I happen to hear anything, though.”

Hide nodded in thanks.

“Well, I should head out now.” Ikuma walked over to the door. “I’ll text you when I have food for Yuuto-kun.”

“Okay. Thanks again, for everything.”

“Thanks for, y’know, not telling. And for saving the kid.”

\---

Hide flinched as he heard someone knock on his door. Ever since he took in Yuuto, he’d been pretty protective. And right now, Hide hadn’t been expecting anyone to come over.

He walked over to his door, and opened it up a crack just to see who it was. He made eye contact with a familiar grey eye.

“Kaneki...” He whispered in awe as he quickly opened the door fully.

“H-hey, Hide.” Kaneki whispered back. He had a black leather eyepatch on, with a centipede design on it. He wore black pants, a white collared shirt, and a black hoodie with the hood up.

_ He’s here. He’s actually here. _

“Um, come on in!” Hide said, smiling and gesturing. “It’s great to see you!”

Kaneki nodded politely and walked inside, and then pulled his hood down. He seemed nervous and seemed to have his guard up.

“Is Ikuma-san back so soon?!” Yuuto cried out, running over. Once he realized it wasn’t Ikuma but instead a stranger, he hid behind Hide.

“It’s okay, Yuuto.” Hide said, giving the boy a strange look. 

_ Why does he seem more scared of Kaneki than he was of Ikuma? _

Kaneki bent down, and gave the kid a kind smile.

“You’re wondering which I am, aren’t you?” 

Yuuto nodded timidly.

Hide looked between the two of them.

_...Huh? _

“Well, I’m both. I used to be a full human, but since then I’ve become mostly a ghoul.”

Yuuto still seemed nervous.

“I only have one kakugan.” Kaneki added.

Yuuto smiled a little. “That sounds cool. Can I see?”

“I don’t really—”

“I don’t mind.” Hide interrupted, speaking gently.

Kaneki pressed his lips together, and then looked back at Yuuto. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“Okay!” Yuuto said, his eyes sparkling in happiness before darkening to be red and black.

Kaneki smiled at his excitement, and then took his eyepatch off. Hide expected his eye to already be activated, but it was still grey. Hide wondered why he wore the eyepatch if he could control it. Kaneki then activated his eye, and Yuuto let out an “ooooh” in awe.

“Wow, that’s so cool! I’ve never seen a ghoul with only one kakugan before!”

“Everyone always says it’s weird.” Kaneki muttered.

“No way! I mean, it’s different but that’s not a bad thing!” Yuuto stepped closer to Kaneki, his fear gone. And then he gasped and cried, “You brought food!”

“Huh? You did?” Hide asked, looking back at Kaneki.

“I, uh...” Kaneki stammered, his eye deactivating. “Yeah.” He pulled a brown package out of his pocket, and Yuuto quickly snatched it and ran off.

“Yuuto, manners!” Hide yelled after him.

“Thanks for the food, sir!” Yuuto yelled out, not bothering to stop running.

“Kids.” Hide laughed.

Kaneki smirked a little at that.

“So what brings you here?” Hide asked.

Kaneki stood up. “I, uh... read your messages.”

“Oh. Then... why did you never respond?”

He’d been checking his phone constantly, so he knew he didn’t miss it.

“It was a lot to take in. I... wasn’t sure what to say back.”

“Then what brought you here?” Hide asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad you came. It’s nice to see you. But you  _ never _ show up in-person if you can answer with a text instead.”

“Well, you said you needed help. And I know that you probably meant that you needed food for the kid. And I took so long thinking over your messages and wondering how to reply, and then I finally realized that you were right, you were running on a time limit. I didn’t want you in danger or doing anything stupid, so I came to help before it was too late. But it seems like you have everything under control.” A moment later he added. “Ikuma, huh?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s a ghoul too.” Hide said awkwardly.

Kaneki nodded. “Yeah, I know. But, how did  _ you _ know?”

“Lucky guess.” Hide said, and in a way it was the truth.

“How did you know about  _ me _ ?”

Hide grimaced. He really didn’t want to answer that question, but he knew he had to.

“I, uh... So, remember when Nishio-senpai told us to come over to his apartment to look for that disk?”

Kaneki gave him a cautious look. “Yeah...”

“I was never really unconscious. I was just faking.”

“What...?” Kaneki’s eyes widened. “You’ve known all this time?!”

“Yeah.” Hide replied. “I never saw you any differently, though. I know you’ve been slowly blocking yourself off from me, but you don’t have to.”

“Yes I do.”

“No, you don’t Kaneki.”

“Yes I do! You don’t understand!” Kaneki yelled. “Do you even know what I almost did after I fought off Nishio-senpai?!”

“Yeah. I do.”

Kaneki froze.

Hide reached out to take his hand, but he pulled away.

“We can work this out, Kaneki.” Hide whispered.

_ Please stop avoiding me. _

“No.” Kaneki said, his voice low, desperate, begging. “Not yet. I’m not— I can’t— I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.” Hide insisted.

Kaneki turned around, and started walking away. Hide held his breath, internally begging and praying that Kaneki would not leave.

Kaneki stopped a few feet away, staring off into space. He was thinking.

“I can take the kid off your hands.” Kaneki said out of nowhere.

“Huh?” Hide asked.

“I can take care of the kid for you.” Kaneki clarified.

“That’s... not what I wanted when I said I wanted help, Kaneki. I just wanted advice, or a food source, or something. I’m gonna take care of him myself.”

“He’s a ghoul, Hide. It’s dangerous.”

“No he’s not, and I don’t care if he’s a ghoul. He’s a sweet kid and he’s my responsibility now.”

Kaneki growled. He stomped forward, past Hide, and peeked into his bedroom to look at Yuuto. “Oi, kid! You want to come with me, don’t you? With other ghouls?”

Hide walked beside Kaneki, shifting his gaze between Kaneki and Yuuto.

Kaneki continued, “I live with a group of other ghouls. They’re friendly and you can play with them, and we’ll take care of you and we’ll have food for you.”

_ He’s living with other ghouls? Who? _

The ghoul boy frowned. “No. I wanna stay with Hide-san!”

Kaneki blinked and took a step back, as if those words physically hurt him. He looked back at Hide, desperation on his face. “Hide, please, let me take him. It’s dangerous for you. What if the CCG find out?”

“They won’t. We’ll stay off their radar. We’ll be careful. And if they do, I’ll protect him.”

Kaneki sighed. “Are you sure?”

Hide nodded.

“Alright... Contact me if you reconsider...” Kaneki said, turning and leaving.

“Wait! Kaneki!” Hide called our after him. “You’re leaving? Are you coming back? Y-you should visit sometime!”

Kaneki didn’t answer as he jumped off the balcony, onto the roof of the building across the street and disappeared.


End file.
